Old MCU Fantastic Four Discussion Thread

[Detective Conan]

I wouldn't be surprised, really. Depends on what route they go with Sue. If it's the actress route then maybe, but I can't see Heard as a scientist.

She’d be about as believable as Jessica Alba was as a scientist.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

As crazy as this sounds... I think more than an "actress" as a character Sue needs to have a big, warm, confident and intelligent personality.

A BIG personality. I think all of our team need to "pop" onscreen but of them all Sue is the one that should get attention simply because right out of the gate she's not as "flashy" as the others outside of how powerful and versatile her powerset is. But... She's not "the world's greatest scientist", she doesn't have Ben's obvious yin/yang of blusterous heroic catch phrases and gravitas filled angst. And she's not factory equipped with Johnny's made for the MCU flippancy and one liners.

I would say before thinking about "prestige" types look for the actresses in their early thirties to early forties that really inhabit the screen, who stand out. Look at Alba... There's just no there there in the Story films, and no, not just because of the writing. It's not just that Alba phones everything in either. Outside of her seductive sexual appeal... There's nothing else. She's invisible as a character even before she gets her powers.

MCU Sue has to be someone that we buy being the only person that can lure Reed Richards away from breaking new barriers every second of the day because she grounds him, calls him on his ****, and will fight tooth and nail to protect her man and the rest of her family.

In fact... Here's something I think will be unpopular but... Seeing as how much humor is given primacy in the MCU, and seeing how Reed probably shouldn't be a clone of RDJ's Stark, I say give that kind of cutting, biting wit to Sue as a character trait. Ben and Johnny can still be the pure comedic duo but I think Sue could be way more in the Frasier Crane type of humor set where Ben and Johnny can plow the fertile feilds of low brow humor. This puts her more in play too in scenes of dramatic confrontation if her voice is like Stark's, esoteric in referrences, cut to bone withering and both playful and sarcastic at the same time.

(As always I note... None of these things requires her to be a scientist, but I digress.)

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

As crazy as this sounds... I think more than an "actress" as a character Sue needs to have a big, warm, confident and intelligent personality.

A BIG personality. I think all of our team need to "pop" onscreen but of them all Sue is the one that should get attention simply because right out of the gate she's not as "flashy" as the others outside of how powerful and versatile her powerset is. But... She's not "the world's greatest scientist", she doesn't have Ben's obvious yin/yang of blusterous heroic catch phrases and gravitas filled angst. And she's not factory equipped with Johnny's made for the MCU flippancy and one liners.

I would say before thinking about "prestige" types look for the actresses in their early thirties to early forties that really inhabit the screen, who stand out. Look at Alba... There's just no there there in the Story films, and no, not just because of the writing. It's not just that Alba phones everything in either. Outside of her seductive sexual appeal... There's nothing else. She's invisible as a character even before she gets her powers.

MCU Sue has to be someone that we buy being the only person that can lure Reed Richards away from breaking new barriers every second of the day because she grounds him, calls him on his ****, and will fight tooth and nail to protect her man and the rest of her family.

In fact... Here's something I think will be unpopular but... Seeing as how much humor is given primacy in the MCU, and seeing how Reed probably shouldn't be a clone of RDJ's Stark, I say give that kind of cutting, biting wit to Sue as a character trait. Ben and Johnny can still be the pure comedic duo but I think Sue could be way more in the Frasier Crane type of humor set where Ben and Johnny can plow the fertile feilds of low brow humor. This puts her more in play too in scenes of dramatic confrontation if her voice is like Stark's, esoteric in referrences, cut to bone withering and both playful and sarcastic at the same time.

(As always I note... None of these things requires her to be a scientist, but I digress.)

Ben an Sue are almost certainly the toughest to cast because audiences need to love them for this to work.

Reed and Johnny can be jerks, but Ben and Sue are the heart, and if audiences don’t genuinely like those two characters, the whole thing may not work.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Ben an Sue are almost certainly the toughest to cast because audiences need to love them for this to work.

Reed and Johnny can be jerks, but Ben and Sue are the heart, and if audiences don’t genuinely like those two characters, the whole thing may not work.

See... I am both not fond of nor confident that they should or will ride the modern trend of making Reed EGREGIOUSLY off putting too often in some manner all justified by his towering intellect. I think if HE'S a clone of Stark in any fashion it risks both being called out as to formulaic and familiar but will be just that. Just the new model RDJ lead type character. And I'm not suggesting a total personality injection but giving Sue a more pronounced sarcastic tone especially with those deserving of it will make her pop more with the audience, give here a well defined trait and it frees Reed up to be softer to a degree and thus much more inspirational in his commitment to scientific discovery which I think is a keystone to his character. Plus... My conception has always been for a long time that Sue needs to be presented as the person that makes Fantastic Four Inc. as it were a functioning entity. When she speaks people HAVE to listen. She is the one coordinating the public appearances, making sure the bills are paid, making sure Reed actually gets paid for his patents and discoveries, keep Johnny occupied so he's not in the tabloids every day, keep Ben occupied so that his depression doesn't get the better of him and make peace with all the neighbors in the Baxter Building that are reasonably a little worried about their own safety and sanity with the FF being a resident.

 

[antsman41]

Amber Heard To Marvel: Rumored For Fantastic Four

Marvel won't touch her.

 

[NotNickFury]

It's also Cosmic Book News, which is sourcing scooper DanielRPK of all people.

So take it with a titanium grain of salt.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

I doubt Feige wants that headache.

 

[CaptainWagner]

She’d be about as believable as Jessica Alba was as a scientist.

Am I the only one that REALLY doesn't like this sort of talk? There is no "look" for scientists and doctors. Sure, it's unrealistic when the whole staff of a hospital or lab look like models, but that's not to say it's "unrealistic" for someone that looks like Heard or Alba to be a scientist. Attractive people can also be intelligent.

Not that I'm arguing either of them are/were right for Sue. I just think that's important to note. I'm still Alison Brie all the way for Sue.

 

[Detective Conan]

Am I the only one that REALLY doesn't like this sort of talk? There is no "look" for scientists and doctors. Sure, it's unrealistic when the whole staff of a hospital or lab look like models, but that's not to say it's "unrealistic" for someone that looks like Heard or Alba to be a scientist. Attractive people can also be intelligent.

Not that I'm arguing either of them are/were right for Sue. I just think that's important to note. I'm still Alison Brie all the way for Sue.

Oh yes, I’m wholly in agreement. There’s plenty of smart people who are attractive in real life. For both the male and female genders. Heck, look at attractive folks like Natalie Portman who’s pretty much a brainiac and highly intelligent (she even published scientific research! ), but I don’t really mean Alba or Heard wouldn’t be believable as a scientist because of their looks per se’ - I really mean they simply wouldn’t fit the role of a scientist because their level of acting ability wouldn’t be able to convincingly pull off scientific exposition that would usually fly over a layman’s head.

Notice I didn’t mention Kate Mara as Sue Storm in my post you replied to. Why is that? She’s a gorgeous, attractive woman but despite that movie turning out what it did, I bought Mara as a scientist. Certainly more than her predecessor did. Furthermore, take this example: I think both Taraji P. Henson and Janelle Monáe' are quite attractive but they still pulled off playing brainy mathematicians in Hidden Figures. That had nothing to do with looks for myself. They were both strong actors who believably played people of great intelligence. I don’t see Heard being able to do that, not because of her good looks, but because she hasn’t impressed me as an actress so far.

 

[MilkmanDan]

Am I the only one that REALLY doesn't like this sort of talk? There is no "look" for scientists and doctors. Sure, it's unrealistic when the whole staff of a hospital or lab look like models, but that's not to say it's "unrealistic" for someone that looks like Heard or Alba to be a scientist. Attractive people can also be intelligent.

Not that I'm arguing either of them are/were right for Sue. I just think that's important to note. I'm still Alison Brie all the way for Sue.

I don't think it's a simple question of attractiveness. There are plenty of good-looking actors who can play doctors or scientists. It's probably more about a combination of acting talent and general vibe of the actor. Pretty much all of the casting suggestions for Reed Richards have been attractive men. But so far I don't think anyone has suggested Channing Tatum. He just doesn't feel like the right person to play that kind of character.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

See... I am both not fond of nor confident that they should or will ride the modern trend of making Reed EGREGIOUSLY off putting too often in some manner all justified by his towering intellect. I think if HE'S a clone of Stark in any fashion it risks both being called out as to formulaic and familiar but will be just that. Just the new model RDJ lead type character.

I don’t imagine Reed being like Stark/RDJ at all.

RDJ’s Stark strikes me as very insecure. He constantly feels the need to prove himself and get out of his father’s long shadow.

Stark has to constantly tell people how smart he is because he feels a need to prove it to them and himself.

Reed by contrast should be much more quietly confident. He has no doubt in his mind that he’s smarter than everybody else so he has nothing to prove. He just does his thing with extreme confidence.

When it comes to what others think of him, Reed doesn’t care. He does what he feels is right and lets the chips fall where they will. He’s not an ass, but he doesn’t always say and do the right things because those social graces aren’t important to him. He’ll often clumsily hurt people’s feelings because there are more pressing concerns.

Stark on the other hand, intentionally does obnoxious things - because he knows those things aren’t what people are supposed to do, but he craves attention and does things out of the norm as part of his effort to convince people he’s exceptional. If he pisses skmeone iff, it’s very intentional. Stark is always playing a character while Reed is just himself.

 

[CaptainWagner]

I don’t imagine Reed being like Stark/RDJ at all.

RDJ’s Stark strikes me as very insecure. He constantly feels the need to prove himself and get out of his father’s long shadow.

Stark has to constantly tell people how smart he is because he feels a need to prove it to them and himself.

Reed by contrast should be much more quietly confident. He has no doubt in his mind that he’s smarter than everybody else so he has nothing to prove. He just does his thing with extreme confidence.

When it comes to what others think of him, Reed doesn’t care. He does what he feels is right and lets the chips fall where they will. He’s not an ass, but he doesn’t always say and do the right things because those social graces aren’t important to him. He’ll often clumsily hurt people’s feelings because there are more pressing concerns.

Stark on the other hand, intentionally does obnoxious things - because he knows those things aren’t what people are supposed to do, but he craves attention and does things out of the norm as part of his effort to convince people he’s exceptional. If he pisses skmeone iff, it’s very intentional. Stark is always playing a character while Reed is just himself.

Yes, I really hope they don't try and turn Reed into Stark 2.0. That's honestly my biggest concern about the F4 in the MCU.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

Yeah Reed has a totally different disposition than Stark. He’s just a loveable nerd without all the sarcasm.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Yeah Reed has a totally different disposition than Stark. He’s just a loveable nerd without all the sarcasm.

He should be.

Then again the characters the MCU versions are based off of half the time have completely different sounding voices on the page as compared to on screen... A lot of them are done in a pseudo-RDJ style trying to catch that lightning in a bottle. Flippant one liners and pop culture riffiing is the default mode for far too many MCU characters.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

Amber Heard To Marvel: Rumored For Fantastic Four

Please don't post BS articles.

 

[Crimz]

As crazy as this sounds... I think more than an "actress" as a character Sue needs to have a big, warm, confident and intelligent personality.

A BIG personality. I think all of our team need to "pop" onscreen but of them all Sue is the one that should get attention simply because right out of the gate she's not as "flashy" as the others outside of how powerful and versatile her powerset is. But... She's not "the world's greatest scientist", she doesn't have Ben's obvious yin/yang of blusterous heroic catch phrases and gravitas filled angst. And she's not factory equipped with Johnny's made for the MCU flippancy and one liners.

I would say before thinking about "prestige" types look for the actresses in their early thirties to early forties that really inhabit the screen, who stand out. Look at Alba... There's just no there there in the Story films, and no, not just because of the writing. It's not just that Alba phones everything in either. Outside of her seductive sexual appeal... There's nothing else. She's invisible as a character even before she gets her powers.

MCU Sue has to be someone that we buy being the only person that can lure Reed Richards away from breaking new barriers every second of the day because she grounds him, calls him on his ****, and will fight tooth and nail to protect her man and the rest of her family.

In fact... Here's something I think will be unpopular but... Seeing as how much humor is given primacy in the MCU, and seeing how Reed probably shouldn't be a clone of RDJ's Stark, I say give that kind of cutting, biting wit to Sue as a character trait. Ben and Johnny can still be the pure comedic duo but I think Sue could be way more in the Frasier Crane type of humor set where Ben and Johnny can plow the fertile feilds of low brow humor. This puts her more in play too in scenes of dramatic confrontation if her voice is like Stark's, esoteric in referrences, cut to bone withering and both playful and sarcastic at the same time.

(As always I note... None of these things requires her to be a scientist, but I digress.)

I agree. This is where both Fox interpretations failed as both those versions of Sue felt like afterthoughts that were there because they had to include Sue.
Sue bringing some of the comedy too would be good especially in a more sarcastic way to contrast with Johnny and Ben's style of comedy. I just think it should be more on the playful side than cynical as I think Sue should have a more of a bubbly personality. Ben's the cynic.

I just hope that it's not her personality trait all the time. With Iron Man it was like he couldn't turn off the witty one-liners even in serious situations. That shouldn't be the case with Sue, she would know when to get serious and focus. Johnny should be the one who rarely takes things seriously.

 

[metaphysician]

Am I the only one that REALLY doesn't like this sort of talk? There is no "look" for scientists and doctors. Sure, it's unrealistic when the whole staff of a hospital or lab look like models, but that's not to say it's "unrealistic" for someone that looks like Heard or Alba to be a scientist. Attractive people can also be intelligent.

Not that I'm arguing either of them are/were right for Sue. I just think that's important to note. I'm still Alison Brie all the way for Sue.

Amusingly relevant. You want to know what the inventor of frequency hopping radio communication ( among other things ) looks like?

 

[CaptainWagner]

I agree. This is where both Fox interpretations failed as both those versions of Sue felt like afterthoughts that were there because they had to include Sue.
Sue bringing some of the comedy too would be good especially in a more sarcastic way to contrast with Johnny and Ben's style of comedy. I just think it should be more on the playful side than cynical as I think Sue should have a more of a bubbly personality. Ben's the cynic.

I just hope that it's not her personality trait all the time. With Iron Man it was like he couldn't turn off the witty one-liners even in serious situations. That shouldn't be the case with Sue, she would know when to get serious and focus. Johnny should be the one who rarely takes things seriously.

I feel like Sue's humor mostly derives from being the adult in the room. Reed's head is in the clouds, Ben and Johnny are bickering and/or goofing off and she's the one who (were this a sitcom) would be shaking her head at the camera. "Look at what I have to deal with."

 

[Crimz]

I feel like Sue's humor mostly derives from being the adult in the room. Reed's head is in the clouds, Ben and Johnny are bickering and/or goofing off and she's the one who (were this a sitcom) would be shaking her head at the camera. "Look at what I have to deal with."

Yeah definitely, just think that she should be more personal too and not so cynical as that often comes along with that archetype.

 

[metaphysician]

I feel like Sue's humor mostly derives from being the adult in the room. Reed's head is in the clouds, Ben and Johnny are bickering and/or goofing off and she's the one who (were this a sitcom) would be shaking her head at the camera. "Look at what I have to deal with."

This is true to a point, but I'd be very careful of overdoing it. "The woman/mother/girlfriend is the adult in the room" is not only an overdone cliche, but it also very easily trends into "they are the unfun one that the audience resents for getting in the way of the antics" territory.

Which is to say, I would highly recommend giving Sue some specific, positive character beats and motivations, beyond simply "being the reasonable one". She needs an internal life distinct from managing the affairs of the men around her.

 

[CaptainWagner]

This is true to a point, but I'd be very careful of overdoing it. "The woman/mother/girlfriend is the adult in the room" is not only an overdone cliche, but it also very easily trends into "they are the unfun one that the audience resents for getting in the way of the antics" territory.

Which is to say, I would highly recommend giving Sue some specific, positive character beats and motivations, beyond simply "being the reasonable one". She needs an internal life distinct from managing the affairs of the men around her.

I agree. I definitely think Sue needs to be an academic on equal standing with Reed. Her being a linguist and/or biologist is a great contrast to Reed's focus in the more abstract and theoretical sciences.

 

[Zarex]

I've always liked MCU Sue being an MD. She can be the FF's Bones to Ben's Sulu, Reed's Spock and Johnny's Scotty.

 

[metaphysician]

My own preference is for her to be a female take on Daniel Jackson: sociologist, historian, diplomat, some form of "soft science" scholarly interest and talent. In the context of my preferred FF Origin Story, she's on the mission to try and talk to who or whatever they meet on The First Human FTL Spaceflight or whatnot.

 

[Crimz]

I like either of the above. Sue should be the people person of the group and whatever profession/role should represent and emphasize that.
My personal choice is archaeologist specializing in alien species. Have her really interested in the culture and history of those FF encounter. Reed provides the scientific analysis, Sue provides info on the history and culture. Like it would be cool if Sue uncovered artifacts that represented Galactus as an Easter Eggs for the audience and a warning of the big G's incoming.
If the FF are a scientific adventure team I think each member should represent a different science instead of all of them being STEM.

The FF should be a love letter to science and adventure.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

I could buy Sue as an MD. Maybe at a point in time she had a residency at Metro and worked with Strange.

I also could see MCU Sue as a woman with hidden depths. She could be an actress or a model who crossed paths with Reed, but she also soaked up random bits of her father’s scientific knowledge. Or she could be Reed’s PR person and again, with a love for science thanks to Dr. Storm.

But above all else, I really want her to have that dark side to her. Meaning that when the FF are in the heat of battle and sh*t gets real, her killer instinct comes out and it even gives Ben the creeps. I like that aspect of her personality.


All of this.